CASA swears in new child advocates

On Wednesday morning, Judge H.R. Quintero swore in four citizens as new Court Appointed Special Advocates for children at the 6th Judicial Court in Silver City.

Myra Solis, the program director for CASA within the 6th Judicial Court, said the four Quintero swore in Monday — Rebecca La Fleur, Pilar Gonzalez de Killough, Peggy Tavizon and Cathy Palmer — brings the total number of volunteers at CASA to ten. Solis said the goal is to have 16 volunteers. She said CASA will hold a training for at least three more next week.

CASA uses volunteers to advocate for children in cases where the court decides their legal parents may not be the best suited to take care of their children at the moment, according to Solis.

“The program relies on CASA volunteers to go out and visit children who are in foster care,” Solis said. “Our CASA volunteers make sure their educational, psychological (and) medical needs are being met, and we make sure their wishes are known to the court.”

CASA also keeps up with the parents to make sure they are doing certain things required to get their kids back, Solis added.

“The fact that you’re willing to put yourself through this,” Quintero said to the newly sworn in volunteers, “we appreciate it. Without this, we can’t make decisions from the viewpoint of the child.”

Anita Roberts, CASA’s volunteer coordinator, said most of the volunteers generally have a heart for children and want to look out for their best interest.

“They recognize not everyone wants to speak up for them,” Roberts said, “and (the volunteers) want to do that so (the children) end up in the right place.”

La Fleur said she knows there are difficulties in families from her own experiences growing up.

“Yet you see even young kids and they’re going through, you know, many more times the issues than you had to deal with,” La Fleur said. “Looking back I want to give them hope. I want to give them strength.”

Palmer said she feels there is a true need for this service in the community and the need for them is greater than it ever has been.

“If we don’t step up then we’re in trouble. These kids are our future,” Palmer said. “The need is great, so we need more people to help.

Gonzalez de Killough said many of these kids with severe family issues are falling through the cracks and no one is looking out for them — so she wants to be there to make sure everything is okay with them.

“They’re the sand,” Gonzalez de Killough said, “and I would like to be the bedrock and help them if I can make a difference. If I can help at least one, that’s good.”